San Juan Flight Times

[OnlyMe]

Hi all, I am in the process of trying to find flights for our March sailing out of San Juan. We will be coming from Ireland and staying in Boston before flying to San Juan. Our cruise departs at 11pm and I have found a flight that arrives into SJU at 7.05pm - this gives us almost 4 hours before the ship is scheduled to depart but is it cutting it too tight?? (Not sure if it makes any difference but the flight would be on American Airlines)

 

Also, am I correct in thinking that we shouldn't book a flight out of SJU on the day we disembark before 12 noon? What are the lines for Taxis like at the pier?

 

Thanks for all advice!

[Tinkerbellcgy]

I had originally booked my air with Celebrity and, in conversation with a Custom Air Rep, I was informed that the criteria they would use for my sailing would be that as the ship departs at 10:00 p.m. the latest I would be able to fly in would be 6:30 p.m. I was told an arrival later than that would not necessarily get me to the port in time for sailing. Don't forget that you will be travelling in March and there is no guarantee that you won't encounter a snowstorm in Boston. Inclement weather can put a monkey wrench in your best laid out plans.

 

Long story but I ended up booking my own flights and am arriving in a couple of days early to poke around San Juan.

[reklawr]

Hi all, I am in the process of trying to find flights for our March sailing out of San Juan. We will be coming from Ireland and staying in Boston before flying to San Juan. Our cruise departs at 11pm and I have found a flight that arrives into SJU at 7.05pm - this gives us almost 4 hours before the ship is scheduled to depart but is it cutting it too tight?? (Not sure if it makes any difference but the flight would be on American Airlines)

 

Also, am I correct in thinking that we shouldn't book a flight out of SJU on the day we disembark before 12 noon? What are the lines for Taxis like at the pier?

 

Thanks for all advice!

 

A bad past experience taught us to ALWAYS arrive at least one day prior to the day of the ships departure. Our luggage did not arrive in SJU when we did and now we always go out one day early.

[usha]

I'm casting another vote for arriving a day early, especially since you're coming from so very far away, and you are making connections, too.

[Donnaluv2cruise]

Plus you're really taking a risk flying out of Boston this time of the year. They've gotten lots of snow this year, as every year, I suppose. With all of those connecting flight I would definately come the day before.

[OnlyMe]

I had a feeling that that flight would arrive too late.

We normally fly in to our departure port a couple of days early too but because we are coming from Ireland and want to break up the journey AND because of limited time, we are looking at flying in the day of departure instead. I actually had found some great flights at a reasonable price and good timing but we hadn't booked them because we haven't booked the cruise yet (we're still ironing out the details) BUT when I went to book them today they have shot up over $100 each:eek: . It might be a case of just having to bite the bullet now though.

[wvufan]

Perhaps another way to break up your flight would be to fly the day before to Florida, and then on to PR earlier the day of the cruise. I recently read somewhere that there are cheap flights from somewhere in Florida (Orlando perhaps), so the cost may be less than a direct flight.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

[Lois R]

Perhaps another way to break up your flight would be to fly the day before to Florida, and then on to PR earlier the day of the cruise. I recently read somewhere that there are cheap flights from somewhere in Florida (Orlando perhaps), so the cost may be less than a direct flight.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

 

Helloooo Bob:) that was me with the great price on flights.

Orlando to SJU 237.00 roundtrip:D

 

To the OP..when in March are you sailing?

Donna and I are both on the 3/7 Galaxy cruise;)

[OnlyMe]

Thanks for the advice on the Orlando flights, I'm not sure if we can utilise them BUT - can I ask which airline this is with??

The reason we're looking at coming into Boston is that there are direct flights from Ireland and it would save time making connections etc. There are also direct flights to New York from Ireland and we were going to use this route on the way home.

The sailing we're looking at is Summit March 22nd sailing... this ties in nicely with our Easter Holidays / Spring break.

 

Our original plan is this:

March 20th fly Ireland to Boston, getting in that evening spend two nights there (giving us 1.5days there)

March 22nd fly direct to SJU in the morning - board ship

March 29th fly SJU to New York, spend two nights (giving us 1.5 days there)

March 31st fly home direct to Ireland

 

I can actually get an earlier flight from BOS into SJU on the 22nd - the earlier one would get us in at 12 noon or there's another one that would get us in at 2.30pm, it's just that the later one was a fair bit cheaper and that's why I was looking at that.

 

Can I ask, is there a bigger chance of flights being cancelled / deolayed coming out of Boston than JFK? Would it be a better plan to switch the 'splits' ie fly from Ireland in to JFK and out of Boston?

 

Sorry for so many questions - I really want to try and get this sorted today before flights go up again and now it's begining to drive me just a little:eek: (crazy)

[eandj]

If you must fly in the day of the cruise, defitiely TAKE THE EARLIEST flight. Knowing there is another one that you might be able to catch if the first one has trouble, will ease some stress for you. But I DO agree that with March weather conditions, get there a day in advance. You are bumping into spring break so the fares and hotel rates will only keep going up. All the cheap seats were taken months ago.

[Lois R]

Hi, I am flying Airtran from Orlando to SJU...I am leaving on March 6th

so I don't know what the price difference is from then to the 22nd.

 

Sounds like you have everything planned out...sorry we won't

be on the same cruise together!

 

As for the weather...New York and Boston can sometimes have

the same types of weather but not always. I know that doesn't

help you much.

 

Depending on your $$$ of course, but personally, I would take

either one of those earlier flights. In my opinion, getting in during the

afternoon is a much better option than arriving in the 7:30pm range.

 

Good luck with everything and have a great cruise.:)

[wrp96]

One note, if the choice is between New York (any airport there) or Boston take Boston. The 3 airports in the New York area (JFK, LGA, EWR) are in the top 5 for most delayed airports in the US.

 

If you must fly in the day of, take the earliest arriving flight. That way if there are any delays, etc you have some leeway. The later you plan on arriving, the less options you give yourself if anything goes wrong.

[OnlyMe]

Lois, I'd LOVE to be on your cruise ... can you hassle hubbys company into change their spring break:D :p

 

I am SO sorry for wrecking everyones head with this but I'm afraid I'm going to go insane with all this. We're not normally last minute bookers so trying to get this all organised AND trying not to blow the budget is no mean task, especially during spring break.

 

Anyways, I think we might change our plans thanks to all your advice (and save a few $$ BTW) - how does this look?:

 

March 20th Ireland -> JFK arriving at 17.05

JFK -> SJU departing at 9pm and arriving into SJU at 1.02am

(this goes against our original plan of splitting the journey but saves the stress of missing flights and also gives us two(ish) days in SJU)

 

March 29th SJU -> BOS, departing at 1.30pm and arriving into Boston at 5.35pm. (sticking to original plan here except flying into Boston and spending 2 days there - we would prefer an earlier flight out of SJU but they are $$$$ booking so late)

March 30th BOS -> Ireland

 

Now I have more questions (this is nothing new for me!!):

* What do we do in San Juan for two days?? I know there's the rain forest but what else should we do besides wander around? Should we get a car or not??

 

* Any suggestions for the 'nicest' hotels in San Juan??

 

* On the day we disembark should we just head straight for the airport or do something else first? Is there much in SJU airport?

I know from past experience we will probably be pretty tired after disembarking so I'm not sure how we should work it - ideally we would fly out earlier and snooze on the plane:o

 

and one last VERY silly question (but I want to be sure I'm correct):o , the code to San Juan, Puerto Rico IS SJU isn't is?:o ... sorry for such a silly one but when I search some sites it gives me different San Juan codes.

 

Thanks again for everyones patience and HUGE help.

[Donnaluv2cruise]

The correct code is SJU. We like to stay at the Caribe Hilton. It sometimes gets mixed reviews but we've always had a great time there. We usually go into Old San Juan to eat though. hiltoncaribbean.com

[OnlyMe]

The correct code is SJU. We like to stay at the Caribe Hilton. It sometimes gets mixed reviews but we've always had a great time there. We usually go into Old San Juan to eat though. hiltoncaribbean.com

 

Thanks Donna, want to be sure to fly to the right place:o

 

I'm going to check out the Hilton now too - thank you.

[parrothead1]

The sailing we're looking at is Summit March 22nd sailing... this ties in nicely with our Easter Holidays / Spring break.

 

 

If you do decide to take this sailing, welcome aboard. We are also on the 3/22 sailing.

 

As a lot of folks suggested, if you can get a day earlier, I would suggest to doing that as well. Boston has been getting hammered this year with snow storms, and March is usually one of the trickiest/nastiest months in the North East. We are leaving out of Philadelphia on the 21st for the extra day just in case.

 

Good Luck with your decision, and if you do take this sailing, join us on our Roll Call!!

 

Take Care!

[Hplar]

Hi all, I am in the process of trying to find flights for our March sailing out of San Juan. We will be coming from Ireland and staying in Boston before flying to San Juan. Our cruise departs at 11pm and I have found a flight that arrives into SJU at 7.05pm - this gives us almost 4 hours before the ship is scheduled to depart but is it cutting it too tight?? (Not sure if it makes any difference but the flight would be on American Airlines)

 

Also, am I correct in thinking that we shouldn't book a flight out of SJU on the day we disembark before 12 noon? What are the lines for Taxis like at the pier?

 

Thanks for all advice!

We're on the same cruise and thought about the AA flight. We decided to go into SJ a day early just in case the luggage didn't make it and/or the flight was cancelled. I think that's AA's last flight of the day too.

[Mirage]

Onlyme,

 

Your wise to arrive in San Juan at least the day before. I'm on the Summit 3/22 as well and always arrive at least one day ahead. Have missed connections, and or weather problems before, your stress level will be significantly reduced by your changed plans to arrive early. If you have not been to Puerto Rico before there is plenty to do in old San Juan or the rest of the island.

 

Mirage

[starlake]

I think your last idea for the planes sounds the best.

When leaving San Juan, you might want to go directly to the airport. I know that airport can get backed up at times depending on the amount of cruise ships that have come into port that morning.

There are numerous nice hotels in San Juan. It would depend on the price you might want to spend. I don't believe you will need a car. There are plenty of taxis and also the bus system.

Old San Juan is a great way to spend a day. There is a lot of walking involved or you can take a shuttle.

[OnlyMe]

Well I've just spent the last hour booking flights (as per posted above .. almost!)! AND tearing my hair out!!! .... when I went to purchase the 1.30pm AA flight from SJU to Boston it had jumped in price of over $100ppn:eek: :eek: ... I'm so sick of that happening to me today:rolleyes: - anyways, after frantic searching I found a USAirways flight going out at 1.45pm. It was still $50ppn more that the AA one I wanted to book but sure whats another $100 in the whole scheme of things:p . Anyways, the upshot is, WE ARE BOOKED ... well flights at least so there's no going back because the flights are costing us almost as much as the cruise.

 

Now, panic over, just the cruise to book and hopefully that will get done tomorrow. I've had a few quotes but I'm waiting for the TA I boooked with last July to get back to me to see if she can match one of the quotes ... fingers crossed because she was really great to deal with.

 

Anyways, it looks like we are going to have a lot of CCers on board ... 'Hi Everyone'! I will definately join the roll call and being so late will most likely pick everyones brains to see what we should book etc etc so be warned:p .

 

Speaking of brain picking ... where is everyone staying in SJU? What is the best location to aim for?

We made a cruise stop in SJU way back in 2000. We were novice cruisers at the time and hadn't done a lot of research so we just wandered around the shops a little and ended up in the Hard Rock Cafe so this time we definately want to see som of the Island.

[PatC]

Hi OnlyMe

 

We're also on the 22nd cruise. We have a great group over on our cc board so jump on over.

 

Good for you. ALWAYS fly in the day before at least. Last March we left from San Juan and a freak storm hit the entire east coast. They closed all airports in Boston, NY, Baltimore and NJ. People were still catching the ship 3 days later, sadly.

 

We'll be staying at the Embassy Suites in San Juan and then, after the cruise we booked the Holiday Inn on Tartak for 2 nights after. We're used to longer cruises and this will extend the vacation for us.

 

Looking forward to finally meeting everyone on the 22nd on board.

 

Pat C

[OnlyMe]

Hi Pat,

 

Wow, I hope there aren't any freak storms this year - now I'm VERY glad we switched our plans!

 

I've spent the rest of the evening looking at hotels on Tripadvisor and I'm still none the wiser ... except for realising that hotels in San Juan are pricey that is! We're looking for something 'nice' rather that just 'someplace to stay' if you know what I mean as this is probably going to be our last 'big' holiday for a while but we don't want to spend $300 per night so I really have no clue yet.

 

I'm off to bed shortly so will post on the Roll Call tomorrow or Saturday - can't wait to meet everyone